Single-nucleotide-polymorphism genotyping of Coxiella burnetii during a Q fever outbreak in The Netherlands.

ABSTRACT: Coxiella burnetii is the etiological agent of Q fever. Currently, the Netherlands is facing the largest Q fever epidemic ever, with almost 4,000 notified human cases. Although the presence of a hypervirulent strain is hypothesized, epidemiological evidence, such as the animal reservoir(s) and genotype of the C. burnetii strain(s) involved, is still lacking. We developed a single-nucleotide-polymorphism (SNP) genotyping assay directly applicable to clinical samples. Ten discriminatory SNPs were carefully selected and detected by real-time PCR. SNP genotyping appeared to be highly suitable for discrimination of C. burnetii strains and easy to perform with clinical samples. With this new method, we show that the Dutch outbreak is caused by at least 5 different C. burnetii genotypes. SNP typin

SUBMITTER: Huijsmans CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3067327 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature